The desirability of providing footwear and other articles of clothing that incorporate therein assemblies that emit tunes, messages or other sounds has long been known.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,350 issued to Batra discloses a shoe flap having an inner side on which a speaker, battery and microcircuit--discrete components--are separately mounted. This arrangement does not facilitate high-volume shoe manufacture. Moreover, the shoe is tied to a single message or tune; it is not interchangeable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,471 issued to Jennings discloses a portable radio (or tape player) in the pocket of a shirt--actually a shirt harness--and connects the radio by wires to a pair of speakers, one on each sleeve. This is somewhat impractical and, besides, the portable radio must first be turned on and then inserted into its pocket; and there is no way to turn the radio on and off without removing the radio from the pocket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,363 issued to Gamm merely discloses a pocket on a shoe for holding coins or keys while jogging.
It has also been known to incorporate various electrical circuitry with foot apparel to provide for the pick-up and broadcasting of noises, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,305 issued to Medler, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,852 issued to Schwartz. However, in both of these disclosures, the various components of the electrical circuitry are individual, and there is no suggestion therein to form such circuitry into a unitary assembly. Rather, in each case, the speakers for broadcasting the audible signal are remote from the shoe. Indeed, neither of these arrangements is capable of being formed into a unitary assembly.
Furthermore, like the disclosures noted above, in both Medler '305 and Schwartz '852, the noises to be broadcasted are noises made by mechanical elements (such as taps). It is noted that there is no suggestion in either of those disclosures of any arrangement that could electrically generate a noise. Thus, it is clear that the arrangements of these disclosures are not capable of generating either musical compositions or messages, nor do they lend themselves to being adapted for that purpose.
It has also been known to incorporate electronic circuitry with foot apparel for purposes other than to simply emit and/or amplify noises.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,999 issued to Grandisar; U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,375 issued to Pfeiffer; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,814,661 issued to Ratzlaff et al. each discloses arrangements that provide force (or weight) bearing sensing and warning systems. However, like the disclosures discussed above, none of the circuitry of these arrangements are unitary assemblies. Rather, in each of these disclosures, the circuitry includes speakers that are remote from the remainder of the subassembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,147 issued to Wu; U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,204 issued to Wu; U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,704 issued to Johnson; and 4,651,446 issued to Yukawa et al each disclose pedometers. However, none of these disclosures involves assemblies that are capable of either generating or broadcasting an audible signal. Thus, the arrangements of these disclosures are not capable of generating or broadcasting either musical compositions or messages, nor do they lend themselves to being adapted for that purpose. Furthermore, once again, the assemblies of these disclosures are not unitary. The only disclosures of which I am aware that incorporate devices or circuitry with foot apparel that emit musical compositions are U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,184 issued to Malone and U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,556 issued to Kim.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,184 issued to Malone discloses a mechanical arrangement that is built into the heel of a high heel shoe. This mechanical arrangement is comprised of several separate components and not a unitary assembly. Also, this arrangement is not capable of either electronically generating or broadcasting either a musical composition or a message. Furthermore, it is noted that the mechanical arrangement disclosed therein is quite complicated, involving a spring-driven music box mechanism. Unfortunately, the complexity of such a mechanical arrangement can be quite expensive and weighty, so as to affect the user's comfort. Also, such a complicated mechanical arrangement can only be incorporated into foot apparel that is of the variety that has an abnormally large heel, such as a high heel shoe. Such an arrangement would not be able to be satisfactorily incorporated into foot apparel not having such large heels, such as athletic footwear.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,556 issued to Kim discloses an arrangement wherein a circuit panel is mounted directly on the upper portion of the shoe for producing a speaker drive signal when activated. Separate from the circuit panel is a speaker, that is mounted in the heel of the shoe and which is responsive to the speaker drive signal that is generated by the circuit panel. The power supply is in the form of a photovoltaic cell that is also remote from the circuit panel and the speaker (although connected thereto). The power supply activates the circuit panel when the "VELCRO" type closure has been opened to expose the cell.
While being useful for its purpose, the Kim arrangement involves several separate components, each of which must be mounted separately. This arrangement does not present a unitary device. Use of such a device would necessitate substantial modification of the shoe, which is impractical. Also, the arrangement of Kim requires that the shoe be opened/closed for activation/deactivation of the power supply, so that the composition may be broadcast. No button whatsoever, or any other similar means that operates apart from the opening/closing of the shoe, has been disclosed for this purpose.
Other prior art of which I am aware are the following United States Letters Patents:
______________________________________ Inventor U.S. Pat. No. Year of Issue ______________________________________ Schreck 2,160,756 1939 Casserd 2,291,791 1942 Miles 2,735,220 1956 Faranda 2,811,811 1957 Magiera 3,340,846 1967 Visitacion 3,432,964 1969 Schmidt 3,501,144 1970 Strelakos 3,757,466 1973 Liu 4,043,241 1977 ______________________________________
Accordingly, it can be seen that there remains a need for an arrangement wherein an athletic shoe (or other article of clothing) is combined with a unitary electronic assembly capable of both electrically generating and broadcasting an audible signal in the form of a musical composition, message or the like.